The Old Yellow Bird
The Old Yellow Bird is a 1955 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. Plot Sylvester sits under a tree, crying over never being able to catch Tweety. A voice tells Sylvester that he would eventually catch him, and proceeds to transport him "far into the future" past the years 1960, 1970, 1980, etc., until reaching the then-distant year of 2010. This offers the chance to use some contemporary gags with a futuristic twist, as Sylvester finds a year 2010 newspaper. One headline says, Smell-O-Vision Replaces Television: Hoyt Curtin Sez It Will Never Work!" In sporting news, "Frank Sinatra's Horse Hasn't Come In Yet!" (Sinatra was known for investing in racehorses that did poorly). By now, both Sylvester and Tweety are very old and wrinkled ("I tawt I tawt a pudding-face?") - Tweety even has a large white beard and a cane - and lumbago - but their chase resumes. This time Sylvester is armed with a "Duck Dodgers" ray gun. After a short chase (at slow speed, due to their ages), Sylvester gets the upper hand, shooting Tweety with his ultra-modern weapon. At the moment when it seems Sylvester has finally beaten his nemesis, the apparently dying Tweety thinks back to when he and Sylvester were much younger. This leads to a flashback sequence with a baby Sylvester hunting a baby Tweety (both are still in diapers; Tweety, whose "baby" voice is virtually identical to the normal voice of Blanc's Bugs, is drinking orange juice from a baby bottle; Sylvester is crawling and toting a pop-gun; and they interrupt their chase to take a baby nap-time together.) After the flashback is over, a tearful Tweety starts to dig his own grave, with Sylvester getting equally emotional. Just at the point where it seems that Tweety is going to bury himself, he switches places with the weeping and distracted Sylvester, and cheerfully buries him alive instead ("So long, Columbia!") The buried Sylvester quips, "Well anyway, that pesky bird is out of my life forever and ever!" However, Tweety suddenly pops in and repeats the popular catchphrase of the Jimmy Durante, "I was afraid a little say that," plants a kiss on Sylvester, then hands him a large firecracker with a lit fuse, and quickly departs. While Sylvester shivers and doesn't do anything, the screen immediately fades out and the firecracker still hissing. The "That's all, Folks!" card appears already pre-written and the firecracker explodes off-screen, rumbling and shaking the on-screen title card. Trivia *In this short, Tweety in his normal adult age is not shown, just as a baby bird and as an old bird. *This is the first cartoon where something or something referring to the beginning happens at the end where the usual That's All Folks! ending card is shown. *When an old Sylvester is reading the newspaper, Frank Sinatra's and Hoyt Curtin's names can be seen. **Also, instead of saying says it says sez. *While Baby Tweety is babbling to Sylvester as a baby, the words of his catchphrase, I Tawt I Tawt a Puddy Tat, appears and Sylvester reads it. *This is one of the several Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts to have ending gags involving the closing titles; others include Porky's Duck Hunt, The Old Grey Hare, Stop, Look and Hasten, and Box Office Bunny. Credits *Director: Friz Freleng *Story: Warren Foster *Animation: Gerry Chiniquy, Virgil Ross, Art Davis *Layout: Hawley Pratt *Backgrounds: Irv Wyner *Effects Animation: Harry Love (uncredited) *Film Editor: Treg Brown (uncredited) *Voice Characterization: Mel Blanc, Paul Frees (uncredited) *Music: Hoyt Curtin *Produced by Eddie Selzer (uncredited) *Sound Effects: Treg Brown (uncredited) *Camera: Ken Moore, John W. Burton (all uncredited) Category:Looney Tunes Category:Episodes focusing on Tweety Bird Category:Episodes focusing on Sylvester Category:1955 Category:Shorts Category:Unfinished shorts Category:Theaterical short films Category:Warner Bros. animated films Category:Warner bros. cartoons Category:Warner Bros.